The Social Cancer: A Complete English Version of Noli Me Tangere
the gate of Hell: Dante's _Inferno_, III, 9.--TR.
[73] "Listening Sister," the nun who acts as spy and monitor over
the girls studying in a convent.--TR.
[74] "Más sabe el loco en su casa que el cuerdo en la ajena." The fool
knows more in his own house than a wise man does in another's.--TR.
[75] The College of Santo Tomas was established in 1619 through a
legacy of books and money left for that purpose by Fray Miguel de
Benavides, O. P., second archbishop of Manila. By royal decree and
papal bull, it became in 1645 the Royal and Pontifical University
of Santo Tomas, and never, during the Spanish régime, got beyond the
Thomistic theology in its courses of instruction.--TR.
[76] Take heed lest you fall!
[77] Ferdinand and Isabella, the builders of Spain's greatness,
are known in Spanish history as "Los Reyes Católicos."--TR.
[78] These spectacular performances, known as "Moro-Moro," often
continued for several days, consisting principally of noisy combats
between Moros and Christians, in which the latter were, of course,
invariably victorious. Typical sketches of them may be found in
Foreman's _The Philippine Islands_, Chap. XXIII, and Stuntz's _The
Philippines and the Far East_, Chap. III.--TR.
[79] "The Willow."
[80] The capital of Laguna Province, not to be confused with the Santa
Cruz mentioned before, which is a populous and important district in
the city of Manila. Tanawan, Lipa, and Batangas are towns in Batangas
Province, the latter being its capital.--TR.
[81] "If on your return you are met with a smile, beware! for it
means that you have a secret enemy."--From the _Florante_, being the
advice given to the hero by his old teacher when he set out to return
to his home.
Francisco Baltazar was a Tagalog poet, native of the province of
Bulacan, born about 1788, and died in 1862. The greater part of his
life was spent in Manila,--in Tondo and in Pandakan, a quaint little
village on the south bank of the Pasig, now included in the city,
where he appears to have shared the fate largely of poets of other
lands, from suffering "the pangs of disprized love" and persecution
by the religious authorities, to seeing himself considered by the
people about him as a crack-brained dreamer. He was educated in the
Dominican school of San Juan de Letran, one of his teachers being Fray
Mariano Pilapil, about whose services to humanity there may be some
difference of opinion on the part of those who have ever resided in
Philippine towns, since he was the author of the "Passion Song" which
enlivens the Lenten evenings. This "Passion Song," however, seems to
have furnished the model for Baltazar's _Florante_, with the pupil
surpassing the master, for while it has the subject and characters
of a medieval European romance, the spirit and settings are entirely
Malay. It is written in the peculiar Tagalog verse, in the form of a
_corrido_ or metrical romance, and has been declared by Fray Toribio
Menguella, Rizal himself, and others familiar with Tagalog, to be
a work of no mean order, by far the finest and most characteristic
composition in that, the richest of the Malay dialects.--TR.
[82] Every one talks of the fiesta according to the way he fared at it.
[83] A Spanish prelate, notable for his determined opposition in
the Constituent Cortes of 1869 to the clause in the new Constitution
providing for religious liberty.--TR.
[84] "Camacho's wedding" is an episode in _Don Quixote_, wherein a
wealthy man named Camacho is cheated out of his bride after he has
prepared a magnificent wedding-feast.--TR.
[85] The full dress of the Filipino women, consisting of the _camisa,
pañuelo_, and _saya suelta_, the latter a heavy skirt with a long
train. The name _mestiza_ is not inappropriate, as well from its
composition as its use, since the first two are distinctly native,
antedating the conquest, while the _saya suelta_ was no doubt
introduced by the Spaniards.
[86] The nunnery of St. Clara, situated on the Pasig River just east
of Fort Santiago, was founded in 1621 by the Poor Clares, an order of
nuns affiliated with the Franciscans, and was taken under the royal
patronage as the "Real Monasterio de Santa Clara" in 1662. It is still
in existence and is perhaps the most curious of all the curious relics
of the Middle Ages in old Manila.--TR.
[87] The principal character in Calderon de la Barca's _La Vida
es Sueño_. There is also a Tagalog _corrido_, or metrical romance,
with this title.--TR.
[88] The Douay version.--TR.
[89] "Errare humanum est": "To err is human."
[90] To the Philippine Chinese "d" and "l" look and sound about
the same.--TR.
[91] "Brothers in Christ."
[92] "Venerable patron saint."
[93] _Muy Reverendo Padre_: Very Reverend Father.
[94] Very rich landlord. The United States Philippine Commission,
constituting the government of the Archipelago, paid to the religious
orders "a lump sum of $7,239,000, more or less," for the bulk of
the lands claimed by them. See the _Annual Report of the Philippine
Commission to the Secretary of War_, December 23, 1903.--TR.
[95] _Cumare_ and _cumpare_ are corruptions of the Spanish _comadre_
and _compadre_, which have an origin analogous to the English "gossip"
in its original meaning of "sponsor in baptism." In the Philippines
these words are used among the simpler folk as familiar forms of
address, "friend," "neighbor."--TR.
[96] Dominus vobiscum.
[97] The Spanish proverb equivalent to the English "Birds of a feather
flock together."--TR.
[98] For "filibustero."
[99] _Tarantado_ is a Spanish vulgarism meaning "blunderhead,"
"bungler." _Saragate_ (or _zaragate_) is a Mexican provincialism
meaning "disturber," "mischief-maker."--TR.
[100] _Vete á la porra_ is a vulgarism almost the same in meaning
and use as the English slang, "Tell it to the policeman," _porra_
being the Spanish term for the policeman's "billy."--TR.
[101] For _sospechoso_, "a suspicious character."--TR.
[102] _Sanctus Deus_ and _Requiem aeternam_ (so called from their
first words) are prayers for the dead.--TR.
[103] Spanish etiquette requires that the possessor of an object
immediately offer it to any person who asks about it with the
conventional phrase, "It is yours." Capitan Tiago is rather overdoing
his Latin refinement.--TR.
[104] A metrical discourse for a special occasion or in honor of some
distinguished personage. Padre Zuñiga (_Estadismo_, Chap. III) thus
describes one heard by him in Lipa, Batangas, in 1800, on the occasion
of General Alava's visit to that place: "He who is to recite the _loa_
is seen in the center of the stage dressed as a Spanish cavalier,
reclining in a chair as if asleep, while behind the scenes musicians
sing a lugubrious chant in the vernacular. The sleeper awakes and
shows by signs that he thinks he has heard, or dreamed of hearing, some
voice. He again disposes himself to sleep, and the chant is repeated
in the same lugubrious tone. Again he awakes, rises, and shows that
he has heard a voice. This scene is repeated several times, until at
length he is persuaded that the voice is announcing the arrival of the
hero who is to be eulogized. He then commences to recite his _loa_,
carrying himself like a clown in a circus, while he sings the praises
of the person in whose honor the fiesta has been arranged. This _loa_,
which was in rhetorical verse in a diffuse style suited to the Asiatic
taste, set forth the general's naval expeditions and the honors he
had received from the King, concluding with thanks and acknowledgment
of the favor that he had conferred in passing through their town and
visiting such poor wretches as they. There were not lacking in it
the wanderings of Ulysses, the journeys of Aristotle, the unfortunate
death of Pliny, and other passages from ancient history, which they
delight in introducing into their stories. All these passages are
usually filled with fables touching upon the marvelous, such as the
following, which merit special notice: of Aristotle it was said that
being unable to learn the depth of the sea he threw himself into its
waves and was drowned, and of Pliny that he leaped into Vesuvius
to investigate the fire within the volcano. In the same way other
historical accounts are confused. I believe that these _loas_ were
introduced by the priests in former times, although the fables with
which they abound would seem to offer an objection to this opinion,
as nothing is ever told in them that can be found in the writings
of any European author; still they appear to me to have been suited
to the less critical taste of past centuries. The verses are written
by the natives, among whom there are many poets, this art being less
difficult in Tagalog than in any other language."--TR.
[105] "The old man of the village," patriarch.--TR.
[106] The secular name of St. Francis of Assisi, founder of the
Franciscan order.--TR.
[107] A Spanish official, author of several works relating to the
Philippines, one of which, _Recuerdos de Filipinas_ (Madrid, 1877 and
1880), a loose series of sketches and impressions giving anything but
a complimentary picture of the character and conduct of the Spaniards
in the Islands, and in a rather naive and perhaps unintentional way
throwing some lurid side-lights on the governmental administration
and the friar régime,--enjoyed the distinction of being officially
prohibited from circulation in the archipelago.--TR.
[108] "_Magcanta-ca!_" "(You) sing!"--TR.
[109] Europea: European woman.--TR.
[110] In 1527-29 _Alvaro_ de Saavedra led an unsuccessful expedition to
take possession of the "Western Isles." The name "Filipina," in honor
of the Prince of the Asturias, afterwards Felipe II (Philip II), was
first applied to what is probably the present island of Leyte by Ruy
Lopez de Villalobos, who led another unsuccessful expedition thither
in 1542-43, this name being later extended to the whole group.--TR.
[111] A barrio of Tanawan, Batangas, noted for the manufacture of
horsewhips.--TR.
[112] The actors named were real persons. Ratia was a Spanish-Filipino
who acquired quite a reputation not only in Manila but also in
Spain. He died in Manila in 1910.--TR.
[113] In the year 1879.--_Author's note_.
[114] A similar incident occurred in Kalamba.--_Author's note_.
[115] "The Maid of Saragossa," noted for her heroic exploits during
the siege of that city by the French in 1808-09.--TR.
[116] A region in southwestern Spain, including the provinces of
Badajoz and Caceres.--TR.
[117] Author of a little book of fables in Castilian verse for the
use of schools. The fable of the young philosopher illustrates the
thought in Pope's well-known lines:
"Vice is a monster of so frightful mien,
As to be hated needs but to be seen;
Yet seen too oft, familiar with her face,
We first endure, then pity, then embrace."--TR.
[118] Bones for those who come late.
[119] According to Spanish custom, a matron is known by prefixing
her maiden name with _de_ (possessive _of_) to her husband's name.--TR.
[120] The marble-shop of Rodoreda is still in existence on Calle
Carriedo, Santa Cruz.--TR.
[121] There is a play on words here, _Campanario_ meaning belfry and
_Torre_ tower.--TR.
[122] The Roman Catholic decalogue does not contain the commandment
forbidding the worship of "graven images," its second being the
prohibition against "taking His holy name in vain." To make up the ten,
the commandment against covetousness is divided into two.--TR.
[123] The famous Virgin of Saragossa, Spain, and patroness of Santa
Cruz, Manila.--TR.
[124] In 1883 the old system of "tribute" was abolished and in its
place a graduated personal tax imposed. The certificate that this